Star Gate Branch Hub Field

"Alright... This is it. This is where everything begins! I'm gonna stop being a NEET! I'm gonna be popular! And famous!" A silver-haired girl mumbled to herself as she paced back and forth in front of the Star Gate Branch. For added confidence, she slapped her hands to the sides of her face, and made one final nod of determination before walking into the Branch.

SMACK.

Rin tripped on the door, and was now face-first on the ground, stunned.

"Miss are you alright?" a man's voice sounded, clearly concerned for Rin who had just fallen at the entrance to the Branch. The man approached quickly and helped the poor girl to her feet and began checking her over for any scrapes or other minor injuries.

"The first step's a bit of a doozy today I see." he said with a chuckle. Standing before Rin now was Hideyoshi Sasaki, the Stargate Branch Director himself, though he refrained from introducing himself. He had been in the lobby overseeing the FICA registrations of many ambitious young Stargate fighters who both wanted their devices and wanted to see the displays in the main spherical area of the branch. Not all of the tech was set up as of yet which was a tad disappointing to some. But Yoshi was sure to add some energy to the whole process, psyching up the fighters for the display's completion in a few short days. As it was he had noticed Rin fall right away and was quickest to the scene.

"Welcome to the Stargate Branch. How can we help you today miss? Aside from some smoother floors which I assure you you'll find in abundance."

When Hikari laid her eyes upon the Star Gate branch HQ, her eyes widened and her mouth spread into a huge grin. She'd never seen anything like it before, and it was as serious change of pace from the literal volcano that was Dragon Empire. Just from the outside, this place looked seriously cool. Hikari could only imagine how much cooler it looked inside. And if any place on the planet qualified as "Out of this world," this place would definitely be it. Plus, after that announcement the branch director made on TV, this place was sure to be swarming with fighters looking to throw down.

Not having lost an ounce of excitement through the day, Hikari ran to meet the entrance of Star Gate, and, without regards for her surroundings, shouted "Alright Star Gate, Hikari Sugimoto is here to take some names!" She payed no mind to the stares of passersby and cardfighters who were probably having a nice time until she showed up and started shouting.

"I-i-i'm f-f-f-fine! Yes! Fine," an incredibly flustered Rin managed to stammer out as she was helped to her feet, her whole face flush red from embarrassment. "Great job on first impressions..." she thought to herself. Already, Rin was regretting her choice to be here. This just wasn't the life for her. She wanted to turn around and go back to the safety of her room, maybe rewatch her favourite anime for the 1793rd time.

No! She couldn't let herself stop here! If she turned back now she'd just be a shut-in NEET for the rest of her life! As her internal pep talk continued, it was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a much more outgoing girl. A loud "BWEEEEEEH!?!?!" was heard as Rin almost fell once again in surprise, barely managing to keep her footing. The real world was scary.

"W-w-what kind of person just barges into somewhere and does that!?"

Hideyoshi simply smiled through Rin's stammering, figuring the girl was anxious from the prospect of the amazing fights ahead of her here. As if to accentuate the sentiment, Hikari burst into the branch and proclaimed her intent to fight and win. The man appreciated the excitement and hoped more of Star Gate's fighters would show similar enthusiasm.

"Well put Sugimoto-san!" he said while giving the girl a round of applause. He then turned to the other fighters scrambling about for their FICA and branch registration. "This is the spirit of Star Gate!" he said, lauding the girl's example. He walked toward Hikari, needing to confirm a suspicion he had.

"Your passion betrays you. I'd know a fellow Nova Grappler player anywhere." he said while raising a fist outward toward the girl with a wide grin adorning his face. Fist bump time. Hopefully she'd get that. She had to. This sensation was unmistakable.

Hikari could feel the intensity in the air as the branch director stuck his fist out. She hadn't known it until now, but she realized that her life had been building to this moment. She knew what she had to do. As her grin spread to match Hideyoshi's, Hikari balled her hand into a fist and thrust it into his. She might have let her excitement get the better of her and did it a bit too hard, because her fist stung after the impact. That, or she was merely feeling the burning hot intensity of this encounter concentrated in her fist. It was probably the former.

"That's right!" Hikari nodded, ignoring the light pain in her fist, "Nova Grappler is my clan! The one and only, undisputed, best clan in the game!" She could tell instantly that this man had passion on the same level as her, if not greater. In his presence, the quest moved to the back of her mind. All that occupied her mind now was their shared passion for cardfights, and for Nova Grappler.

Rin looked back and forth between the man that came to her rescue and the loudmouth who just barged in, very confused by what was happening. Slowly, she began to come to a conclusion. There was only one possibility for how something like this was happening: Rin was starring in her very own anime!

"Wait..." She paused for a moment. "If this is an anime, why am I suddenly being ignored? Could it be? Am I not the main character!?" As she came to this realization, she let out a very strange and drawn-out, somewhat squeal-like, noise of frustration and shock.

"No, no, no, no! I absolutely cannot have this! I-i..." She became very flustered, and pulled out her two decks, looking at each of them very intently. If she wanted to be the protagonist... Of course, the choice was clear! She'd fight with the power of love! She put her Blademaster deck away and clutched her Altmile deck with determination, turning towards her rival that dared to try and steal her deserved spot of protagonist!

"Iiiiiiii am Rin! And I will defeat you, Hikari, in the name of my protagonist status!" she shouted awkwardly, still flush with embarrassment.

Hikari pulled her fist back from Hideyoshi's as the new girl ran up to her and issued her challenge. Still overwhelmed by burning passion, she was completely oblivious to the girl's awkwardness, and the line about "protagonist status" that Hikari didn't really understand flew right over her head. All she could see in this girl was, what appeared to be, an intense fighting spirit, and she liked it. "Great to meet you, Rin," Hikari said, still grinning, "Consider your challenge accepted!" She pulled out her own deck, presenting it to Rin dramatically.

Hikari turned her head to look at Hideyoshi again, "Where's the best place to fight around here?" she asked, "We need some place awesome for this showdown!"